Johnsburg High School is a public High School in Johnsburg, Illinois; a town located in northeast McHenry County. Its mascot is the Skyhawk. The Illinois State Board of Education placed Johnsburg School District on the 2017 Financial Watch List. With only 19 of the state's 852 school districts named to this list, that places Johnsburg in the bottom 2.2% of school districts with the worst financial health in Illinois. Furthermore, only 9 districts have a lower financial profile score than Johnsburg, even after scores were adjusted for delayed payment of mandated categoricals. Sadly, District 12 has not received a recognition status, the highest category of financial strength, since 2004.
Community
The community experienced a rapid growth, and the high school had 907 students for the 2009–2010 academic school year. The school now continues to see a steady decline in enrollment with an IHSA classification enrollment of just 628 students for the 2018–2019 school year. Enrollment is projected to further decrease due to high property taxes in the area, and the district having a debt burden which is expected to increase significantly and a credit rating that continues to be downgraded.
Courses of study
There is a variety of courses students can take at JHS, including course offerings in art, music, business, foreign languages, as well as a selection of honors and AP classes. The school also offers vocational classes including graphics, C.A.D., welding, heavy diesel, and machine tool technology. Students who complete the heavy diesel class may also earn a commercial driver's license.
Student body
Music
The school offers both a choral program and a band program. There are three choral groups including Mixed Choir, Treble Choir, and Varsity Choir. Mixed Choir is open to any student, while Treble choir and Varsity Choir are open to students by audition. Johnsburg High School also has a Madrigal Ensemble that performs a Madrigal Dinner annually. The band program includes two percussion ensembles, jazz ensemble, concert band and marching band. The marching band is mandatory for any student enrolled in any instrumental ensemble. The Johnsburg Marching Skyhawks march at every home football game, as well as competitions and parades throughout northern Illinois.
Theatre
Johnsburg High School has a theatre program that is extracurricular. Three teachers from the school run the drama program, though many aspects of the program are student-led, as many positions and duties revolving around each theatrical production are fulfilled by students. There are about 50 members active in different aspects of each production, including acting, set construction, technical aspects, and many other roles. The program has been chosen several times to perform at the Illinois High School A variety of different plays are chosen to be produced in the fall and spring; a musical is typically reserved to be performed in the winter. The shows usually run one or two weekends and make enough money to support the next play. A unique and stand out feature of Johnsburg High School's theatre program is that productions are performed in the school's very own Theatre_in_the_round
Athletics
Johnsburg is currently a member of the Kishwaukee River Conference, and also participates in state championship tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association. The school currently sponsors interscholastic sports teams for men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, and track & field. Men participate in baseball, football, and wrestling. Many women participate in softball and volleyball. Both men and women compete in the school's bass fishing team, the only co-ed IHSA sport. Many alumni have gone on to play Division I and other college sports The 2003 Johnsburg boys basketball team finished 30-2 and historically advanced to the Class AA State Tournament quarterfinals with an enrollment of only 781 students as one of the smallest AA schools in the state.. In the fall of 2011 Johnsburg sent its first ever girl golfer to the IHSA state meet. Johnsburg received its first state trophy for a team sport in the spring of 2013 when the Lady Skyhawks soccer team took 4th place in IHSA class 1A soccer. Johnsburg football recorded its best performance in its history in 2016 when the program secured a 2nd-place finish at the IHSA Class 4A state title game against Rochester.
